Strange Bedfellows (episode)
The Dominion and the Breen negotiate an alliance; Ezri and Worf are sentenced to death. (Part 3 of 9) Summary Formerly prisoners of the Breen, Worf and Ezri Dax are now prisoners of the Dominion, aboard a Jem'Hadar vessel. Also on board is Weyoun and the Female Changeling, forming an alliance with the Breen against the Federation. The Female Changeling has to concentrate hard in order to maintain her normal, smooth-skinned humanoid form. Legate Damar voices his displeasure at the new alliance, as he, as the Cardassian leader, was not informed and left out of the negotiations with the Breen before now. Also, the Cardassians must cede a few planets to the Breen seemingly without any return. Damar becomes even more angry, when he learns that Septimus III has fallen to the enemy, even though Weyoun had promised to "deal" with the situation. General Martok and Captain Sisko are discussing the war, and their conversation drifts toward marriage, and the resemblance of marriage to war. Dukat, still posing as Bajoran farmer Anjohl Tennan, continues his manipulation of Kai Winn Adami. He continually points to her "prophecy", and how it warned her of the Emissary of the Prophets straying from course. Kasidy finds it difficult being to married to the Emissary and politely declines Benjamin's request that she perform a Bajoran fertility ceremony. Meanwhile, Worf and Ezri continue to plot their escape, now from the clutches of the Jem'Hadar. They soon turn to arguing, invoking the name of Jadzia, Dax's previous host who was married to Worf. When Damar announced to them that they will be tried as war criminals and executed, Weyoun (#7) offers them a chance to escape death, by supplying him with information. When he insults Ezri by mentioning her "relationship" with Julian, Worf immediately snaps Weyoun's neck, killing him instantly. Damar laughs heartily, happy to see his tormenter dead, even knowing that soon he would be replaced by the next clone (Weyoun #8). Weyoun allows the Breen to examine their military database, much to Damar's chagrin. Even worse, Damar is demoted, told by Weyoun that he now reports to the Breen. Having fashioned a club, Worf and Ezri break out of their cell, only to be chased down in the corridors, recaptured. Their absence on Deep Space 9 is noticed by everyone, especially Quark who continues to pour (the absent) Ezri her usual drink at the same time every day. The mood is dreary in Quark's, but the moment seems to be especially poignant to Julian. Later, Kai Winn experiences her second vision from the "Prophets," who reveal to her that they are indeed the Pah-wraiths, not the celestial Prophets. She consults with the Orb of Prophecy, but the Prophets do not speak to her. Dukat reveals that he is a servant of the Pah-wraiths, and that he has been brought to the Kai for a purpose: to unite against the Emissary and the Prophets of the Celestial Temple. She meets with Kira, and bares her soul to her. Kira advises her to step down as Kai, because it was power that led Winn away from the Prophets. However, Winn is unwilling to give up the political power that her position has given her. With the Breen suddenly replacing the Cardassians as the Dominion's best Alpha Quadrant ally, Damar feels like the Cardassians are being squeezed out of control. Therefore, he boldly shoots the Jem'Hadar guards accompanying Worf and Ezri, allowing their escape. Worf and Ezri, who had come to a truce and agreed to remain friends, are given a message from Damar to the Federation: that he will be their sole ally on Cardassia. Kai Winn, feeling that the Prophets have turned their back on her, pledges her allegiance to the Pah-wraiths. She and Dukat vow to destroy any who would stand in their way, including the Federation, the Prophets, and the Emissary. Memorable Quotes "I would not trade Sirella for all the Targs on Qo'noS." : - Martok, paying a Klingon compliment to his wife "I hate to say it, but this is doing wonders for my back." "I doubt that is what our captors had in mind." : - Ezri Dax and Worf, forced to hang upside-down "I was seduced and betrayed." "I seduced you?" "Finally, we agree on something. You desired a physical relationship with me from the very start. That much was obvious." "You have the biggest ego of any man I've ever known." "Considering how many men you've known, that is quite a statement." "Am I supposed to be embarrassed because Jadzia had a few lovers before you?" "A few?" "You're right, it was more than a few. It was dozens, hundreds, in fact I don't think there was anybody aboard Deep Space 9 who wasn't her lover." : - Worf and Ezri Dax "You should have killed me. There's only one Damar." "I will keep that in mind." : - Damar and Worf "Leave me!" "Oh, shut up." "You never listen." "Look who's talking." : - Worf and Ezri Dax, in the middle of an escape attempt after Worf is shot in the leg "Why should we trust you?" "You can either trust me, or stay here and be executed." "I vote for option one." : - Worf, Damar and Ezri Dax, after Damar enabled their escape "Oh, I'm sure she'll understand. But if she doesn't... I look forward to meeting Weyoun 9." : - Damar, to Weyoun 8 "The Federation and its Vedek puppets, the false gods and their precious Emissary, will all be swept away like dead leaves before an angry wind." : - Kai Winn Adami, after turning away from the Prophets Background Information The Final Chapter * In the original plan for The Final Chapter, Sisko and Kasidy were not supposed to be married until this episode. This was because, originally, when Sarah Sisko warns Benjamin that he "will know nothing but sorrow," she wasn't referring to his marriage, but to the building of his house on Bajor. As such, the marriage itself was never in question and was never called off. René Echevarria however, who was writing Part 1 ( - which is where Sarah issues the warning), felt that this didn't really work, that warning Sisko about the house wasn't especially compelling, and something more hard-hitting was needed. He came up with the idea that Sarah warns Sisko not to get married, obviously much more serious than warning him not to build a house. However, after Ira Steven Behr approved Echevarria's idea, it was decided that it made more sense for the couple to wed in ; that after doubt had been sown in Sisko's mind as to whether or not he should get married, he would want to go through with it as soon as possible. As such, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson were informed that they would be handling the wedding ceremony, not Ronald D. Moore, who was writing "Strange Bedfellows". This late complication and change in plans wasn't entirely well received by Moore. As Thompson explains, "Suddenly it's 'Oh sorry, Ron. You can't get them married because that's going to happen in the ''second hour now.' And Ron is going, 'Aarrggh! Then what's going to happen in my show''?'" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * During the composition of this episode, Ron Moore's wife went into labor a month earlier than expected, and Moore had to take a week off. This threw the writing schedule into chaos, and forced Ira Behr and Hans Beimler (who were working on ) and René Echevarria (who was working on ) to abandon their own episodes and complete the writing of this one. As Behr says, "It got very hectic." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * There was a very practical reason for the scene in this episode between Sisko and Martok where they discuss marriage. As Behr explains, "The series was getting so fragmented that we wanted to remind people that Sisko had gotten married in the preceding episode. At the same time, we felt that Martok had been lost from the series for a while, and we wanted to bring him back in." The scene also served to replace the wedding scene which had been shifted to the previous episode. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) "Strange Bedfellows" directs Marc Alaimo on the set of "Strange Bedfellows"]] * This episode was originally entitled "Eclipse"; following on from (an area of half shadow), and "Umbra" (an area of deep shadow). * It is in this episode where the character of Damar begins the Cardassian Rebellion against the Dominion. Damar becoming a hero was a popular plotline amongst the fans, who found it somewhat unexpected, but Hans Beimler argues that the seeds for his 180° shift in attitude can be traced back to the sixth season episode , where it is first established that he is a heavy drinker; "Ira has really good instinct, even when he doesn't know why he wants to do something. It was his idea to make Damar a drinker, but he didn't know back then that he wanted to make him a hero. It was answering the question, 'Why is Damar drinking so much?' that led us there. Damar had a conscience and that ultimately told us where we needed to go." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * Beimler also states that from the very start, the character of Damar was always destined to go places, irrespective of his low-key introduction in the fourth season episode ; "When we decided on Casey, we cast somebody who was better than the role. That meant we could expand the role from what was originally there." As Ira Behr puts it, "The fact was that we could take this character who started out with two lines and over the course of a few years, turn him into a complicated character with the weight of the universe on his shoulders." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * No one was happier with Damar's transformation than actor Casey Biggs, "They started to turn me into a comic book hero. I got to step out of the shadows and save the day!" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * After Damar ceases drinking in this episode, he appears to be lit in a different manner, with less harsh lighting, and softer shadow areas around the face, giving him a warmer look than before. * Of Weyoun's attempts to convince Damar that the Breen joining the Dominion is a good thing, Jeffrey Combs comments, "That's the used car salesman in Weyoun. He slips into that persona easily. 'Look, don't worry about the details. I'm on your side here. I want you to have this car at a good price. Just sign here. You have nothing to worry about. You can trust me.'" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * This episode is seen as a pivotal one in the role Kai Winn plays in the overall arc. As Behr explains, "Winn is a total loss, she just doesn't get it. She ''thinks she's going to get it. That's the key! It's intricate stuff. You think maybe she's going to get it, but she just can't''." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * When Winn says to Kira, "I've often sensed that you don't approve of how I've conducted myself as Kai, that you believe I've put my own political interests ahead of our people's spiritual well-being," she could be referring to several instances of past conflict between the two, but the most likely events to which she refers are probably the death of Vedek Bareil in the episode (where Kira felt that Winn was using Bareil's death so as to ensure that she got all the credit for the Bajoran-Cardassian Peace Treaty) and the election of the First Minister of Bajor in the episode (where Winn attempted to gain control of the Provisional Government as well as the Chamber of Ministers, nearly causing a civil war in the process). * According to Ira Behr, Marc Alaimo never wavered from his belief that at heart, Dukat was an okay guy. He'd developed his theory during the shooting of the third season episode , a landmark show in terms of rendering Dukat a more ambiguous character from a moral standpoint, and despite all that Dukat had done, Alaimo still felt there was good in him. As Behr says, "In Marc’s mind, I believe he felt his relationship with Winn was legitimate in some way, and that, in some wacky fashion, it was Dukat’s bid for legitimacy. I mean Marc was actually upset when we had him hit Solbor. Until the very end, he wanted Dukat to be the hero of [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|''Deep Space Nine]]. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * For this episode, there were two scenes that were filmed but did not make it into the final cut: ** Kira tells Kasidy that even though her father wasn't a religious man, he attended services because he loved her mother, and she was religious. ** Kasidy surprises Sisko during the blessing ceremony, and concludes the ceremony for him. * A scene from the script that wasn't shot sees Miles O'Brien refer to the events of . * It was during the shooting of this episode that a joke was spawned at the expense of the Breen; "How do you defeat a Breen?" "You ask him to walk across the room." As assistant director B.C. Cameron explains, "''We were working on "Strange Bedfellows", and it was the last scene of the day. Everybody was tired. We were shooting on the Dominion ship's bridge, and the Female Shape-Shifter was supposed to walk in and be introduced to the Breen commander. So I went over to the Breen background extras and told one of them - a great guy named Wade Kelly - to walk across the set and go out the door when we start rolling. But the minute we rolled camera, I realized I'd made a terrible mistake. Poor Wade couldn't see, but he was determined to give it a shot. Sure enough, he gets to an angled piece of the wall that was sticking out and trips, hitting the wall with a big clunk. Then he tries to see if he can find a way past this thing. But he just keeps going ''clunk, clunk, clunk. I'm thinking, 'Stop, Wade. Just stop.' But he keeps going and finally he gets past his piece of wall and heads for the doorway. But he forgets there’s a threshold there, trips over that, grabs the walls, trying to hang on, finally gets out the door. By this time, I can't see him, but I can hear this huge noise, like he’s ricocheting off the walls out there like the ball in a pinball machine. It was the funniest moment of the entire series''." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * This episode is the second last of the series to have music composed by Jay Chattaway. * This is the final episode of the series to be directed by Rene Auberjonois. He did not appear in this episode as Odo per se, but did appear briefly as a Pah-wraith in Winn's vision. * Cirroc Lofton does not appear in this episode. Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 7.10, catalogue number VHR 4820, . *As part of the DS9 Season 7 DVD collection. Links and References Guest Stars * Penny Johnson as Kasidy Yates * Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun * Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat * Casey Biggs as Legate Damar * J.G. Hertzler as General Martok * James Otis as Solbor * Salome Jens as Female Changeling Special Guest Star * Louise Fletcher as Kai Winn Adami Co-Stars * Majel Barrett as the narrator * Todd Slayton as Gor (uncredited) * Wade Kelly as a Breen soldier (uncredited) References Badlands; Breen; Breen Confederacy; Breen language; Breen warship; Cardassian patrol ship; Cardassian Tribunal; Cardassian Union; [[USS Defiant|USS Defiant]]; division; Eleventh Order; Federation; Founders; god; Goralis III; honeymoon; Honor; Invasion of Septimus III; interspecies mating ritual; Jem'Hadar; Jem'Hadar attack ship; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; launch bay; Legate; milaberry; ''Miranda''-class; Occupation of Bajor; Orb of Prophecy; Septimus III; Ranjen; Restoration of Bajor; Romulan; Sirella; sonic shower; spacesick; Spring; targ; Thot; universal translator; Unroth system; ''Vor'cha''-class; war criminal |next= }} Category:DS9 episodes de:Eine sonderbare Kombination es:Strange Bedfellows nl:Strange Bedfellows